Tilting Baileys brand towards feminine appeal

Nigerian women are becoming more financially independent, especially in the last 15 years. Also, there is a marked increase in their contribution to the economy. The Nigerian female population as of 2011 was calculated at 49.4 percent, according to a World Bank report published in 2012. Though poverty among the population is high, according to reports, but on a gradual basis sizeable percentage of the population is enjoying economic emancipation, and this is likely to be on a continuous upward trend.

In US, four in 10 American households with children under age 18 now include a mother who is either the sole or primary earner for her family, according to a report in New York Times, which quoted a Pew Research Centre analysis. This share, the highest on record, has quadrupled since 1960.

In Nigeria, forward thinking brand owners, especially in the FMCG category are therefore adjusting themselves to the realities of the time and in recognition of more womenfolk who are emerging strongly on economic sphere. For instance, Guinness Nigeria plc recently unveiled a new beverage product called Snapp for ladies feel and experience. The brand is targeted at exciting its women consumers.

The managing director of the company, Seni Adetu said while unveiling the product that the beverage drink was informed by consumer insight. Adetu, who recognised that women are becoming socially active, put women consumers at about 12 million, regretting that that there was not such alcohol drink specifically designed for them. “Snapp is to fill that gap of women desire. It is a flavoured alcohol beverage that is suiting,” he said.

According to him, out of 35 million bread winners in Nigeria, 12 million of them are women, and this is the first time to offer a product that targets the emerging segment of the society.

Also recently, Bailey’s creamy drink from the family of Diageo, the parent body of Guinness, repackaged its bottle for female appeal. For 40 years, Baileys, though enjoyed by both sexes, had its bottle masculinely designed and appealed to men. But the brand owner of Baileys said: “We are changing the spirit of Baileys. It is reshaping and repositioning to greater heights

“We’re re-launching the new bottle to basically reposition the brand in the minds of Nigerian consumer which is critical for our success. It is also to restate the true heritage of the brand. If you look at the bottle there are four distinct changes. The first is that the bottle is much taller and slimmer. The second feature is that the shoulder of the bottle is heightened, a bit more to give it elegant shape to keep appealing to the elegant Nigerian of women in the world. The third change is the logo, the two Bs have become more pronounced and the fourth is that we have refreshed the label to make it more appealing to Nigerian woman. If look at everything we have done, it centred on the bottle as the liquid remains the same,” Felix Enwemadu, general manager, Diageo brands Nigeria, said.

To Enwemadu, the introduction of the new Baileys bottle into the Nigerian market is in line with the global drive to further position the brand uniquely in the minds of its consumers.

“We have created a beautiful new bottle which is both modern and stylish and has a greater sense of femininity. Baileys is a brand that appeals uniquely to women and the new bottle was created to embrace and celebrate the stylish and contemporary woman. The new Baileys bottle evokes the brand’s modern, feminine sense of style,”Enwemadu said.

According to him, “the striking new design is the next step in the brand’s quest for renewed femininity as it restates the provenance and heritage of Baileys in a more elegant way. The new bottle has been heightened and the shoulders lifted, to give a more elegant profile and pose a more alluring and impactful prospect on shelves and in shops worldwide.”

Explaining why women is the centre for the Baileys brand repositioning Lola Shafa said “women nowadays are becoming more financially independent. They are becoming CEOs and MDs, and they are becoming financially self-determining and we are tapping into that.”

What this means is that any brand that is not thinking about women will have maximum growth challenges.